Recently, I’ve made a change in my life. I have gone from cigarettes to puffing a vaporizer (e-cigarette).
At first I hated vaping. Years ago I tried the cheap ass $6-10 ecigarrettes they sell at gas stations and was really disappointed. You pull and pull on them, hardly get any vapor (unsatisfying because the stick does not feel remotely like smoking a cigarette) and the little bit of vapor that feels like you’ve sucked it through a clogged straw ends up tasting funny, kind of burning, and not really satisfying your nicotine craving.
However, it came to my attention that there are higher-end electronic cigarettes that really do give a good pull when you hit them. Not only that, but the liquids you put in them actually taste good. Who would have thought that was possible? If you’ve smoked a hookah before, vaping can be a lot like that, just as long as you’ve got a good, quality vaporizer.
Since stepping into the world of vaping I have not missed cigarettes. There’s even a lot of pro’s to vaping: I love getting to pick out a new flavor every time I go to the vape shop, or getting a custom blended flavor that I create myself.
It’s cheaper, too. Sure, it will cost you $120-$200 to get everything you need to start. But after that, it costs around $1 a day to vape (by my back-of-the-envelope calculus) versus the $5-$10 a day that smoking costs you.
No more cigarette odor to worry about either. If you’re a smoker, you may not understand how bad the smell of cigarettes is. But believe me, there is an odor you are not aware of. I have been up close to someone who smoked a cigarette (while I myself hadn’t had one for hours) and I noticed the cigarette odor. It was horrible. Like a landfill set on fire. So when you vape, it adds to your sex appeal.
But is it healthier? There is no hard scientific evidence that vaping is better for you than smoking. That’s because vaping is new, and there has not been any long term comparisons between a large group of smokers and a large group of vapers. My educated guess is that water and glycerin vapor is healthier than smoke, but that is just a guess. That statement was not approved by the FDA.
Of course, the healthiest option of all is probably to not breathe anything but air. But… that is difficult. Non-smokers just don’t understand how hard it is to cut loose from the habit. Even after you make through the awful nicotine cravings that go on in your first couple of days that you quit smoking, there is something about the habit that always pulls you back in. For example, if I am off work and am cruising around, enjoying my leisure time, about to drop into a bookshop or something, I start craving a cigarette. Pleasurable stimulation is something we all like, and if you are in a habit of having it at a certain time, not getting it really sucks. It’s like something you’re looking forward to just got taken away. Which makes going by a gas station and getting a cigarette really tempting. And of course you rationalize this to yourself: “I’ve kicked the habit for six months now, I’m not addicted anymore, so it’s ok. I’ll just smoke one and then now again smoke another one at times like this.” And then that one leads to another one later in the day, and the occasional cigarettes gradually become more regular until you’re doing it again.
Last, but not least, if you’re going to vape, go to a vape shop. Not a gas station, a smoke shop, or a ‘smoke and vape.’ Trust me, the people who specialize in vaporizers know what they are talking about. I went to a smoke and vape prior to going to an actual vape shop and was taken aback with the difference in flavors, quality, and help finding what was right for me at the vape shop than I ever did with my local ‘smoke and vape store.’ Also, most stores have plastic tips that they put over the vaporizers before you put your mouth on them, so you should definitely feel free to go and sample a variety of different models if you are interested in this.
The vaporizer I use is an IPV 4s with a Herakles atomizer. If ordering online, don’t forget batteries and a charger.
